American Literature in the 1800’s – Why My Characters Read by Sally Britton

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In my latest novel, Copper for the Countess, I revisit characters and places from my first foray into the world of writing Historical Western Romance. This time, because I’ve established this fictional place in a time long ago, I concentrated more on what made the houses on this ranch true homes. One of the first things I did for my hero, a foreman on a cattle ranch, was give him a personal library in his house. While only a few shelves exist in his main room, they tell a story about literature and its impact during the expansion westward.

Long ago, when I read an article about Louis L’Amour, he mentioned that some of his cowboys had expansive vocabularies. I remember he said he’d never met a cowboy who hadn’t read Shakespeare, or couldn’t rattle off favorite poems or snatches of great literature. L’Amour postulated that life on the open range left a man a lot of empty time on his hands. Time when he could read a book, and swap books with his friends. Doing a little research of my own, I discovered that many people in the west were better read than we’d guess. We had our own authors Americans loved, but we spent a fair amount of time reading books from across the pond, too.

So my cowboy is a literary cowboy. He loves a good book. On his shelves, you’d find a battered copy of Les Miserables, by Victor Hugo. That particular title gained notoriety in America during the Civil War. Soldiers on both sides of the war took copies of that book into battle. So much so that the book earned the nickname “Lee’s Miserables,” after a confederate general. (Source, Opinionator, NYT.)

Collections of Shakespeare’s work was greatly revered. Of Shakespeare, a cowboy is said to have said, “That fellow Shakespeare could sure spill the real stuff. He’s the only poet I ever seen what fed on raw meat.” (Source, The Washington Free Beacon.)

Jules Verne, a founder of science fiction, was popular in the late nineteenth century, too. We don’t often consider that he was publishing tales about journeying to the center of the earth or Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea when drifters went from one dusty town to another.

By the 1890’s, when my most recent book takes place, books were available at low costs. MacMillan’s Pocket Classics were widely available – I’ve come across several in used bookstores and antique shops in the west, with penciled in names of men and women who lived in Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and Idaho. A cowboy might have Sir Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe in his saddle bag and trade it with a friend for Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

The love of literature is older than the printing press, and putting beloved books into the hands of my cowboys makes them that much more real, and tangible, to my readers.

In this newest book, Copper for the Countess, my heroine comes upon my cowboy’s library in this way: Evelyn volunteered to dust the bookshelves, and she took extra time to examine the titles of the books […]. The book titles were rather surprising. Many of them she had heard of or seen in London bookshops and libraries. Though none of the volumes she’d seen before looked as worn or weather-beaten as the books in Mr. Morgan’s care. He had a shelf with several volumes of poetry, including Tennyson—England’s poet laureate. He had Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables, and the Scot, Robert Louis Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. American titles and authors greeted her, too. Mark Twain’s Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn sat together, as the two friends ought. – Copper for the Countess: An American Victorian Romance 

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In my story, a Victorian countess – widowed and with a child – makes her way to the west. When she meets a ranch foreman with a heart of gold and a love of the written word, she takes a chance on him and his own adopted children. I hope you’ll take a peek at my book, and maybe grab a copy for yourself.

I’m giving away signed paperbacks for two winners. One copy of Cooper for the Countess. One copy of the first book in the series, Silver Dollar Duke.

What are some of your favorite books mentioned in the stories you read?

What is your favorite classic novel?

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49 thoughts on “American Literature in the 1800’s – Why My Characters Read by Sally Britton”

  1. I don’t think that I have read a book with other books mentioned in them. Twas the night before Christmas is the only classic book that I remember reading as a child. Thank you for sharing your time with us all.

  2. Pepper Basham did a series featuring a Jane Austen fan that mentions several of her books. I’ve read many of the classics. My favorite is probably Jane Eyre.

    • I absolutely LOVE The Three Musketeers! That would be a fun one to put in a novel – have fans of the books as heroes.

  5. I follow you on insta Sally and I have been swooning over your westerns! I live in a small town and we have only two bookshops, neither of which have Silver dollar duke. I have read two of your regency romances via ebook and I adored them so much. I’m sure silver dollar duke and a copper for the countess are both so wonderful and knowing that I feel like I’m not missing out in a weird way lol. I hope you have a beautiful weekend.

    • Thank you so much for your kind words! Ask your bookshop to get Silver Dollar Duke – or, better yet, see if your local library will carry it! (Silver Dollar Duke is actually 99 cents, as an ebook, on Amazon right now.)

  6. My favorite would have to be Gone With the Wind because it was really the book that got me into reading. My father was a big Louis L’Amour man. He was always reading his books.

  7. omg I can’t believe I share the name of your main character <3 I haven’t read either of your two westerns but I’m such a fan of your Inglewood romances, they are so serene and sweet! also, my favourite classic is pride and prejudice by Jane Austen.

    • I have been SO nervous about Regency fans not liking Westerns – but so far, they’ve had only good things to say. 🙂 I love the name Evelyn. That’s actually my younger daughter’s middle name. I try to include characters named after my family every few books. My favorite classic is Jane Austen’s Persuasion!

  8. I love it so much when book characters are bookworms too, then I can relate with them on such a real level. Copper for the countess sounds absolutely beautiful. My favourite classic is war and peace by leo tolstoy, I read it during june and july of this year and the experience was so amazing. I can’t wait to meet your literary cowboy in Copper for the countess, my bookworm instinct says I’ll adore him so much

    • This is exactly how I feel about bookworm heroes and heroines! I think we immediately identify with them. Also, great job reading War and Peace! My favorite classic changes with the day. Persuasion is always number one, most likely. The most life-changing classic I read was Les MIserables.

  9. I think that is so wonderful that the cowboys appreciated books too! One of my favorite classics is Jane Eyre but I really enjoyed Ivanhoe as well. Thank you for sharing, and for the chance to win!

  10. Sally, you’re so pretty! And I never knew that cowboys were learned in terms of books. I mean I imagined some might use dictionaries or guidebooks to fixing something or the other, but I didn’t realize they could’ve been learned in regards to shakespeare! In western movies and books these days, they are often portrayed against such things. I see how the ‘norm’ is to paint them in a stereotypical aesthetic. I love love that you’re going against that!

    • I think the way we see things presented now – about the past – is so often WRONG. Hollywood wants cowboys to be tough as nails, gritty, and morally gray. I really don’t think they were that way, based on stories written by people at the time period.

  11. I was a huge Bonanza and Rifleman fan. This started me to reading Zane Grey and the Sacketts and Louis L’Amor. Probably why I still read westerns today. Of course it helped that I lived on a ranch for many years.

    • I would LOVE to know all about your ranching stories. If you ever want to share, they might inspire a thing or two in my next western novel. 😉

  12. What a wonderful and fascinating post which I enjoyed greatly. Cowboys were certainly well read. My favorite classic is Rebecca.

  14. Cowboys are so interesting to learn about and knowing that they appreciated literature is amazing and important. The Westerns which I watched when I was growing up didn’t portray them this way. Having libraries of their own is meaningful. Classics are memorable and give me great pleasure. My favorite would be Anne of Green gables.

  15. When I read I am transported to another realm and era. This is an experience which gives me great enjoyment especially from a classic. My favorite classic is Jamaica Inn. All of Daphne DuMaurier’s novels are intriguing and unforgettable.
    Surprising to know that cowboys had a love of books. It warms my heart and is special. I loved Westerns and they were my heroes.

    • If you think about how often cowboys were alone, by themselves with no one but cattle for company, it makes so much sense that they’d keep a book or two in their saddlebags. 🙂

  16. Hi Sally, thank you for coming. We hope you enjoy your visit. In my latest (A Cowboy Christmas Legend) my hero Sam Legend, a recluse, is a reader. He likes A Tale of Two Cities, Around the World in 80 Days, and Great Expectations. He talks books with my heroine. When I was growing up, I developed a love for the classics when my fifth grade teacher read aloud Ivanhoe and The Last of the Mohicans. I was enthralled and hated when the time was up for that each day and I had to wait so long to see what would happen. I felt like I was in the story. I’ll never forget that or that teacher who knew the importance of books.

    Wishing you much success with your books! They sound so good.

  17. Hi, my favorite classic novel is Little Women, I also love The Grapes of Wrath. When I was growing up, we would watch Bonanza, Rileman, Jim Bowie and other cowboy shows, we loved watching John Wayne movies , also, I still do. Have a great weekend and stay safe.

  20. I knew cowboys were exceptional in every way but what is even better is to know that they are bookworms who appreciate the written word and love reading. An added dimension. A classic is a novel that lives on and continues to give wonderful feelings. My fave are all the Dickens novels.

  21. I’ve seen a few books mentioned like Moby Dick, and others I seem to have forgotten the name of. My favorite is Huckleberry Finn.

  22. Belle reads Romeo and Juliet to the beast in Beauty and the Beast.

    Anne Shirley recites The Highway man poem in Anne With An E.

    Favorite stories:
    The Count Of Monte Crisco
    Dances With Wolves
    The Man from Snowy River poem
    The Prince and The Pauper
    The Phantom Of the Opera
    Beauty and the Beast
    The Snow Queen
    Sarah, Plain and Tall
    Anne of Green Gables
    Little House On the Prairie

    Favorite: The Count Of Monte Crisco

  23. I love when an author chooses to pay tribute to other books. I recently read A Christmas Tale for Little Women by LInda Brooks Davis. Two young girls are spending Christmas, 1912, with their aunt and there are many references to the classic book Little Women. I truly enjoyed Davis’s book, and I have always loved Little Women. Thanks for sharing Copper for the Countess with us.

  25. My favorite classical books was The Five Little Peppers. I had three copies that my grandmother had as a child but lost them in our apartment fire back in 2001.

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